System, method and computer program product for publicly providing web content using a multi-tenant system

ABSTRACT

In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for publicly providing web content of a tenant using a multi-tenant on-demand database service. These mechanisms and methods for publicly providing web content of a tenant using a multi-tenant on-demand database service can allow the web content to be published by a tenant using the multi-tenant on-demand database service for use by non-tenants of the multi-tenant on-demand database service.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/065,700, filed Mar. 9, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/886,218, filed May 2, 2013, (now U.S. Pat. No.9,298,842), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/873,116, filed Apr. 29, 2013 (now abandoned), and U.S. applicationSer. No. 13/873,122, filed Apr. 29, 2013 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,219,775),which are continuations of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/611,697, filedNov. 3, 2009 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,661,056), which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Appl. No. 61/110,851, filed Nov. 3, 2008; thedisclosures of each of the above-referenced applications areincorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The current invention relates generally to providing web content, andmore particularly to publicly providing web content.

BACKGROUND

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not beassumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in thebackground section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the backgroundsection or associated with the subject matter of the background sectionshould not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the priorart. The subject matter in the background section merely representsdifferent approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.

In conventional database systems, entities (e.g. users, organizations,etc.) using such database systems to manage data have only been capableof publishing web content for internal use of the web content. Forexample, the database systems have not provided a public interface forallowing the web content to be publicized to entities other than thosethat have access to (e.g. an account with, etc.) the database systems.Thus, in order to publicly provide web content, entities havetraditionally been required to publish the web content without use ofthe database systems, such as by serving the web content from a webserver separate from the database systems and optionally configuring theweb content to use application program interfaces (APIs) of the databasesystems to access data stored on such database systems.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms andmethods for publicly providing web content of a tenant using amulti-tenant on-demand database service. These mechanisms and methodsfor publicly providing web content of a tenant using a multi-tenanton-demand database service can allow the web content to be published bya tenant using the multi-tenant on-demand database service for use bynon-tenants of the multi-tenant on-demand database service.

In an embodiment and by way of example, a method is provided forpublicly providing web content of a tenant using a multi-tenanton-demand database service. In use, information from a tenant of amulti-tenant on-demand database service is received. Additionally, webcontent is publicly provided to non-tenants of the multi-tenanton-demand database service using the multi-tenant on-demand databaseservice, based on the information.

While the present invention is described with reference to an embodimentin which techniques for publicly providing web content of a tenant usinga multi-tenant on-demand database service are implemented in anapplication server providing a front end for a multi-tenant databaseon-demand service, the present invention is not limited to multi-tenantdatabases or deployment on application servers. Embodiments may bepracticed using other database architectures, i.e., ORACLE®, DB2® andthe like without departing from the scope of the embodiments claimed.

Any of the above embodiments may be used alone or together with oneanother in any combination. Inventions encompassed within thisspecification may also include embodiments that are only partiallymentioned or alluded to or are not mentioned or alluded to at all inthis brief summary or in the abstract. Although various embodiments ofthe invention may have been motivated by various deficiencies with theprior art, which may be discussed or alluded to in one or more places inthe specification, the embodiments of the invention do not necessarilyaddress any of these deficiencies. In other words, different embodimentsof the invention may address different deficiencies that may bediscussed in the specification. Some embodiments may only partiallyaddress some deficiencies or just one deficiency that may be discussedin the specification, and some embodiments may not address any of thesedeficiencies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a method for publicly providing web content of a tenantusing a multi-tenant on-demand database service, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 2 shows a system for publicly providing web content of a tenantusing a multi-tenant on-demand database service, in accordance withanother embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a method for receiving information from a tenant of amulti-tenant on-demand database service for use in publicly providingweb content, in accordance with yet another embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a method for publicly providing web content of a tenant ofa multi-tenant on-demand database service to a non-tenant of themulti-tenant on-demand database service, in accordance with still yetanother embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example of an environmentwherein an on-demand database service might be used.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of elements of FIG.5 and various possible interconnections between these elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

General Overview

Systems and methods are provided for publicly providing web content of atenant using a multi-tenant on-demand database service.

To date, database systems have been incapable of being utilized topublish web content to the public. Unfortunately, this requires tenantsof database systems to utilize web servers separate from the databasesystems to publicize web content. Thus, systems and methods are providedfor allowing web content of a tenant to be publicly provided using amulti-tenant on-demand database service, such that non-tenants of themulti-tenant on-demand database service may access the web contentprovided using the multi-tenant on-demand database service.

Next, mechanisms and methods for publicly providing web content of atenant using a multi-tenant on-demand database service will be describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a method 100 for publicly providing web content of a tenantusing a multi-tenant on-demand database service, in accordance with oneembodiment. As shown, information is received from a tenant of amulti-tenant on-demand database service. See operation 102. In thecontext of the present description, the multi-tenant on-demand databaseservice may include any service that relies on a database system that isaccessible over a network, in which various elements of hardware andsoftware of the database system may be shared by one or more tenants(e.g. customers, organizations, groups, users, etc.). For instance, agiven application server may simultaneously process requests for a greatnumber of customers, and a given database table may store rows for apotentially much greater number of customers. Various examples of such amulti-tenant on-demand database service will be set forth in the contextof different embodiments that will be described during reference tosubsequent figures.

To this end, the tenant of the multi-tenant on-demand database servicemay include any entity (e.g. customer, organization, group, user, etc.)that is permitted to access the multi-tenant on-demand database service.For example, the tenant may be registered with the multi-tenanton-demand database service. Thus, use of the multi-tenant on-demanddatabase service by the tenant may only be allowed upon authentication(e.g. registration, login, etc.) of the tenant with the multi-tenanton-demand database service.

Also, the information may be received from the tenant by themulti-tenant on-demand database service. As noted above, themulti-tenant on-demand database service may optionally only beaccessible by the tenant upon authentication of the tenant with themulti-tenant on-demand database service. To this end, and strictly as anoption, the information may only be capable of being received from thetenant by the multi-tenant on-demand database service upon theauthentication of the tenant with the multi-tenant on-demand databaseservice.

In one embodiment, the information may be received utilizing a graphicaluser interface (GUI) of the multi-tenant on-demand database service. Forexample, the GUI may include at least one field for receiving theinformation. In this way, the information may optionally be received astext.

In another embodiment, the information may be received from the tenantas metadata utilizing a development environment of the multi-tenanton-demand database service. For example, the development environment mayinclude a metadata application program interface (API) via which theinformation is received from the tenant. It should be noted that themetadata may include any type of code that is readable by thedevelopment environment.

Additionally, the information that is received from the tenant mayinclude any information based on which web content may be provided, asdescribed in more detail below. In one embodiment, the information mayinclude a domain name. Such domain name may include the identifier [e.g.uniform resource locator (URL), etc.] by which the web content is to beaccessed. Optionally, the domain name may be received by the tenantregistering the domain name via the multi-tenant on-demand databaseservice.

In another embodiment, the information may include security settings forthe web content. The security settings may include at least one ruleaccording to which the web content may be accessed. For example, therules may indicate database tables (e.g. of the multi-tenant on-demanddatabase service) that are allowed to be publicly accessed bynon-tenants of the multi-tenant on-demand database service (e.g.entities not authorized to use the multi-tenant on-demand databaseservice), a level of access to the database tables by the non-tenants(e.g. read, create, edit, delete, etc.), fields of the database tablesthat are allowed to be publicly accessed by the non-tenants, records ofthe database tables that are allowed to be publicly accessed by thenon-tenants, internet protocol (IP) addresses that are restricted fromaccessing the web content, etc.

In yet another embodiment, the information may include a billingconfiguration based on which a provision of the web content is billed.For example, the billing configuration may indicate that the tenant isto be automatically charged for views of the web content (e.g. by thenon-tenants) that exceed a predetermined threshold of views of the webcontent. As another example, the billing configuration may indicateviews of the web content that exceed a predetermined threshold of viewsof the web content are to be blocked, such that the tenant is notcharged for the excessive views of the web content.

In still yet another embodiment, the information may include the webcontent. In various embodiments the web content may include a website(e.g. public website, Internet website, microsite, etc. such as ane-commerce website, a recruiting website, a community website, etc.) aweb service [e.g. Really Simple Syndication (RSS)], and/or any othercontent that is made publicly available to the non-tenants using themulti-tenant on-demand database service. Optionally, the web content maybe received in the form of an application.

Furthermore, as shown in operation 104, the web content is publiclyprovided to non-tenants of the multi-tenant on-demand database serviceusing the multi-tenant on-demand database service, based on theinformation. With respect to the present description, publicly providingthe web content may include the multi-tenant on-demand database serviceproviding the web content in any manner based on the information whichmakes the web content accessible to the non-tenants of the multi-tenanton-demand database service. As noted above, the web content may includea website, web service, etc.

Accordingly, the web content may be publicly provided by publishing theweb content based on the information such that the web content may beaccessed by the non-tenants. As another option, the web content may bepublicly provided by sending the web content to the non-tenants uponreceipt of a request from the non-tenants for such web content.

In one embodiment, the web content may be publicly provided to thenon-tenants based on the information by providing the web content inresponse to receipt of a request including the domain name associatedwith the web content from the non-tenants. In another embodiment, theweb content may be publicly provided to the non-tenants based on theinformation by providing the web content in response to a determinationthat the security settings associated with the web content allow theprovision of the web content. In still yet another embodiment, the webcontent may be publicly provided to the non-tenants based on theinformation in response to a determination that the billingconfiguration allows for the web content to be provided (e.g. thebilling configuration does not block the provision of the web contentwhen a threshold placed on the provision of the web content has beenreached, etc.).

To this end, information received from a tenant of a multi-tenanton-demand database service may be used such that the multi-tenanton-demand database service may publicly provide web content tonon-tenants of the multi-tenant on-demand database service. For example,the multi-tenant on-demand database service may store the web contentfor the public provision thereof (based on the information) to thenon-tenants of the multi-tenant on-demand database service.

FIG. 2 shows a system 200 for publicly providing web content of a tenantusing a multi-tenant on-demand database service, in accordance withanother embodiment. As an option, the present system 200 may beimplemented in the context of the functionality of FIG. 1. Of course,however, the system 200 may be implemented in any desired environment.The aforementioned definitions may apply during the present description.

As shown, a tenant device 202 is in communication with a multi-tenanton-demand database service server 206. For example, the tenant device202 may be in communication with the multi-tenant on-demand databaseservice server 206 via a network (e.g. the Internet, etc.). It should benoted that the tenant device 202 may include any desired client device(e.g. computer, etc.) from which information may be sent to themulti-tenant on-demand database service server 206.

To this end, in the context of the present embodiment, the multi-tenanton-demand database service server 206 receives information from thetenant device 202. For example, the tenant device 202 may include abrowser 204 for sending the information to the multi-tenant on-demanddatabase service server 206. The browser 204 may optionally be used toaccess a GUI and/or a metadata API of the multi-tenant on-demanddatabase service server 206 (e.g. upon authentication of a tenant of themulti-tenant on-demand database service using the tenant device 202 withthe multi-tenant on-demand database service server 206) for allowing thetenant to use the tenant device 202 to submit the information to themulti-tenant on-demand database service server 206.

Upon receipt of the information, the multi-tenant on-demand databaseservice server 206 publicly provides web content 208 to a non-tenant ofthe multi-tenant on-demand database service, based on the informationreceived from the tenant device 202. As shown, the web content 208 maybe stored on the multi-tenant on-demand database service server 206.Further, the web content 208 may be publicly provided to the non-tenantby allowing a non-tenant device 210 of the non-tenant to access the webcontent 208. For example, a browser 212 of the non-tenant device 212 maybe used to access the web content 208. Optionally, the multi-tenanton-demand database service server 206 may be used by the tenant of thetenant device 202 to code, compile, test, and deploy the web content208.

In one exemplary embodiment, the information received from the tenantdevice 202 may include the web content 208, security settings accordingto which the web content 208 may be publicly provided, a domain name bywhich the web content 208 may be publicly provided, etc., such that themulti-tenant on-demand database service server 206 may use theinformation received from the tenant device 202 for publicly providingthe web content 208 to the non-tenant device 210. For example, thenon-tenant may enter the domain name associated with the web content 208into the browser 212 of the non-tenant device 210 for requesting the webcontent 208. The browser 212 may send a request including the domainname to the multi-tenant on-demand database service server 206, whichmay response to the request with the web content 208, based on thesecurity settings.

It should be noted that the multi-tenant on-demand database service maybe integrated with a plurality of different applications, such that theweb content may utilize the functionality of such applications. Forexample, the multi-tenant on-demand database service may be integratedwith a billing application for billing the tenant for the publicprovision of the web content. As another example, the multi-tenanton-demand database service may be integrated with a content deliverynetwork application for allowing the web content to be cached as variouslocations across the world. As yet another example, the multi-tenanton-demand database service may be integrated with an authenticationapplication for authenticating non-tenants accessing the web content(e.g. for allowing the non-tenant to make a purchase via the web contentwhere the web content includes an e-commerce website, etc.). As yetanother example, the multi-tenant on-demand database service may beintegrated with a domain name registration application for allowing thetenant to register the domain name for use thereof with respect to theweb content.

FIG. 3 shows a method 300 for receiving information from a tenant of amulti-tenant on-demand database service for use in publicly providingweb content, in accordance with yet another embodiment. As an option,the method 300 may be carried out in the context of the functionality ofFIGS. 1-2. For example, the method 300 may be carried out using themulti-tenant on-demand database service server 206 of FIG. 2. Of course,however, the method 300 may be carried out in any desired environment.Again, the aforementioned definitions may apply during the presentdescription.

It should be noted that while the operations in the method 300 are shownin a particular sequence, the operations may be performed in any desiredsequence. As shown, it is determined whether web content to be publiclyprovided is received from a tenant. See decision 302. For example, itmay be determined whether a web site, web service, etc. has beenreceived from the tenant. As an option, the web content may include atemplate of an application provided by a multi-tenant on-demand databaseservice which is customized (e.g. branded, etc.) by the tenant. Asanother option, the web content may include a custom applicationgenerated by the tenant.

In the context of the present embodiment, it may be determined whetherthe web content is received by the multi-tenant on-demand databaseservice. For example, the web content may be capable of being receivedvia a GUI of the multi-tenant on-demand database service and/or ametadata API of the multi-tenant on-demand database service. If it isdetermined that web content to be publicly provided is not received froma tenant, the method 300 continues to wait for such web content to bereceived.

If, however, it is determined that web content to be publicly providedis received from a tenant, registration of a domain name is requested.See operation 304. For example, the GUI described above may request thata domain name for the web content be registered may be displayed to thetenant. Optionally, the GUI may be integrated with a domain nameregistration application of the multi-tenant on-demand database service,such that the domain name registration application may be used forregistering a domain name submitted by the tenant.

In decision 306 it is determined whether a domain name is registered forthe web content. For example, it may be determined whether the tenanthas registered a domain name for the web content via the domain nameregistration application. If it is determined that a domain name has notbeen registered, the method 300 continues to wait for a domain name tobe registered.

If, however, it is determined that a domain name is registered, thedomain name is mapped to the tenant. See operation 308. For example, themulti-tenant on-demand database service may map the domain name to anaccount that the tenant has established (e.g. via registration, etc.)with the multi-tenant on-demand database service.

Further, as shown in operation 310, security settings for the webcontent are requested. The security settings may include any rulesaccording to which the web content may be publicly provided. Forexample, the security settings may indicate which database tablesassociated with the tenant's account are allowed to be accessed, etc.

Optionally, the GUI described above may request that security settingsfor the web content be configured. Optionally, the GUI may be integratedwith a security application of the multi-tenant on-demand databaseservice, such that the security application may be used by the tenantfor configuring the security settings.

Next, it is determined whether the security settings are received. Seedecision 312. If it is determined that security settings are notreceived, the method 300 continues to wait for receipt of such securitysettings. If, however, it is determined that security settings arereceived, the security settings are stored in association with the webcontent, as shown in operation 314. Thus, the security settings may onlybe applied with respect to a public provision of the particular webcontent determined to be received in decision 302.

FIG. 4 shows a method 400 for publicly providing web content of a tenantof a multi-tenant on-demand database service to a non-tenant of themulti-tenant on-demand database service, in accordance with still yetanother embodiment. As an option, the method 400 may be carried out inthe context of the functionality of FIGS. 1-3. For example, the method400 may be carried out using the multi-tenant on-demand database serviceserver 206 of FIG. 2, based on the information received in the method300 of FIG. 3, etc. Of course, however, the method 400 may be carriedout in any desired environment. Again, the aforementioned definitionsmay apply during the present description.

As shown in decision 402, it is determined whether a request for webcontent has been received from a non-tenant using a domain name. In thecontext of the present embodiment, receipt of the request may includeany receipt of the request by a multi-tenant on-demand database service.For example, the request for the web content may be submitted by thenon-tenant (and thus received from the non-tenant) in response to thenon-tenant entering the domain name into a browser of a device of thenon-tenant. To this end, the request may include the domain name.

If it is determined that the request is not received, the method 400continues to wait for such a request to be received. If, however, it isdetermined that the request is received, it is further determinedwhether the web content is stored in cache of a content deliverynetwork. See decision 404. To this end, the content delivery network mayinclude an application integrated with the multi-tenant on-demanddatabase service. For example, the content delivery network may includeservers located at various locations across the world which cache webcontent recently requested within a particular vicinity of suchlocations.

If it is determined that the web content is stored in the cache of thecontent delivery network, the web content is provided to the non-tenantfrom the cache. See operation 406. Thus, for example, the web contentmay be sent from the cache to the browser of the device of thenon-tenant. In this way, the web content may be publicly provided to thenon-tenant in response to the receipt of the request for the web contentfrom the non-tenant by the multi-tenant on-demand database service (asdescribed in decision 402).

If, however, it is determined that the web content is not stored in thecache of the content delivery network, a tenant mapped to the domainname is identified. See operation 408. For example, an account of atenant with the multi-tenant on-demand database service may beidentified based on a mapping of the same to the domain name.

Upon identification of the tenant, security settings for the web contentis identified in addition to limits placed on the web content, as shownin operation 410. For example, the tenant account identified based onthe mapping may store the security settings, such that the securitysettings may be identified based on the identification of the tenant.The security settings may be stored in association with the web content,such that the security settings may be specifically applied to the webcontent in response to the request for the web content by thenon-tenant.

Further, the limits may be configured automatically based on a type(e.g. a level) of the account held by the tenant, such that the limitsmay be identified based on the identification of the tenant. It shouldbe noted that the limits may include any threshold allowances providedwith respect to the web content (e.g. for managing resource utilization,etc. of the multi-tenant on-demand database service that is shared amonga plurality of tenants, etc.).

In one embodiment, the limits may indicate a threshold amount of webcontent of the tenant that is allowed to be publicly provided by themulti-tenant on-demand database service. In another embodiment, thelimits may indicate an amount of resource utilization (e.g. processorusage, etc.) that is allowed with respect to the public provision of webcontent of the tenant by the multi-tenant on-demand database service. Inyet another embodiment, the limits may indicate a threshold number ofviews of the web content that is allowed for the particular web contentor for all web content of the tenant. Accordingly, a monitoringapplication of the multi-tenant on-demand database service may beintegrated with the provisioning of the web content for collectinginformation associated with the limits, such that it may be determinedwhether the limits have been met.

As shown in operation 412, the web content is provided to the non-tenantbased on the security settings and the limits. In this way, the webcontent may be publicly provided to the non-tenant in response to thereceipt of the request for the web content from the non-tenant by themulti-tenant on-demand database service (as described in decision 402).In one embodiment, the multi-tenant on-demand database service may onlyprovide portions of the web content to the non-tenant as allowed by thesecurity settings. In another embodiment, the multi-tenant on-demanddatabase service may only provide the web content in response to adetermination that the limits placed on the web content have not beenmet.

As noted above with respect to operation 406, a determination of whetherthe limits have been met may not necessarily be made if the web contentis provided from the cache of a content delivery network. As a result ofthe limits being set for ensuring sharing of the public provision of webcontent among a plurality of tenants of the multi-tenant on-demanddatabase service, he limits may not necessarily be taken intoconsideration when the web content is provided from the cache of thecontent delivery network, since only resources of the content deliverynetwork may be consumed (thus preventing consumption of resources of themulti-tenant on-demand database service).

Of course, with respect to some of the limits, the tenant may configurebilling options to allow the limits to be automatically increased, inexchange for a fee. Thus, the tenant may configure the billing optionsto allow a billing application integrated with the multi-tenanton-demand database service to automatically charge for each occurrenceof a predefined limit being exceeded when the web content is provided toa non-tenant. In this way, the non-tenant may optionally be providedwith the web content even when the limits have been met, based on thebilling configuration.

System Overview

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an environment 510 wherein anon-demand database service might be used. As an option, any of thepreviously described embodiments of the foregoing figures may or may notbe implemented in the context of the environment 510. Environment 510may include user systems 512, network 514, system 516, processor system517, application platform 518, network interface 520, tenant datastorage 522, system data storage 524, program code 526, and processspace 528. In other embodiments, environment 510 may not have all of thecomponents listed and/or may have other elements instead of, or inaddition to, those listed above.

Environment 510 is an environment in which an on-demand database serviceexists. User system 512 may be any machine or system that is used by auser to access a database user system. For example, any of user systems512 can be a handheld computing device, a mobile phone, a laptopcomputer, a work station, and/or a network of computing devices. Asillustrated in FIG. 5 (and in more detail in FIG. 6) user systems 512might interact via a network with an on-demand database service, whichis system 516.

An on-demand database service, such as system 516, is a database systemthat is made available to outside users that do not need to necessarilybe concerned with building and/or maintaining the database system, butinstead may be available for their use when the users need the databasesystem (e.g., on the demand of the users). Some on-demand databaseservices may store information from one or more tenants stored intotables of a common database image to form a multi-tenant database system(MTS). Accordingly, “on-demand database service 516” and “system 516”will be used interchangeably herein. A database image may include one ormore database objects. A relational database management system (RDMS) orthe equivalent may execute storage and retrieval of information againstthe database object(s). Application platform 518 may be a framework thatallows the applications of system 516 to run, such as the hardwareand/or software, e.g., the operating system. In an embodiment, on-demanddatabase service 516 may include an application platform 518 thatenables creation, managing and executing one or more applicationsdeveloped by the provider of the on-demand database service, usersaccessing the on-demand database service via user systems 512, or thirdparty application developers accessing the on-demand database servicevia user systems 512.

The users of user systems 512 may differ in their respective capacities,and the capacity of a particular user system 512 might be entirelydetermined by permissions (permission levels) for the current user. Forexample, where a salesperson is using a particular user system 512 tointeract with system 516, that user system has the capacities allottedto that salesperson. However, while an administrator is using that usersystem to interact with system 516, that user system has the capacitiesallotted to that administrator. In systems with a hierarchical rolemodel, users at one permission level may have access to applications,data, and database information accessible by a lower permission leveluser, but may not have access to certain applications, databaseinformation, and data accessible by a user at a higher permission level.Thus, different users will have different capabilities with regard toaccessing and modifying application and database information, dependingon a user's security or permission level.

Network 514 is any network or combination of networks of devices thatcommunicate with one another. For example, network 514 can be any one orany combination of a LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area network),telephone network, wireless network, point-to-point network, starnetwork, token ring network, hub network, or other appropriateconfiguration. As the most common type of computer network in currentuse is a TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol)network, such as the global internetwork of networks often referred toas the “Internet” with a capital “I,” that network will be used in manyof the examples herein. However, it should be understood that thenetworks that the present invention might use are not so limited,although TCP/IP is a frequently implemented protocol.

User systems 512 might communicate with system 516 using TCP/IP and, ata higher network level, use other common Internet protocols tocommunicate, such as HTTP, FTP, AFS, WAP, etc. In an example where HTTPis used, user system 512 might include an HTTP client commonly referredto as a “browser” for sending and receiving HTTP messages to and from anHTTP server at system 516. Such an HTTP server might be implemented asthe sole network interface between system 516 and network 514, but othertechniques might be used as well or instead. In some implementations,the interface between system 516 and network 514 includes load sharingfunctionality, such as round-robin HTTP request distributors to balanceloads and distribute incoming HTTP requests evenly over a plurality ofservers. At least as for the users that are accessing that server, eachof the plurality of servers has access to the MTS' data; however, otheralternative configurations may be used instead.

In one embodiment, system 516, shown in FIG. 5, implements a web-basedcustomer relationship management (CRM) system. For example, in oneembodiment, system 516 includes application servers configured toimplement and execute CRM software applications as well as providerelated data, code, forms, webpages and other information to and fromuser systems 512 and to store to, and retrieve from, a database systemrelated data, objects, and Webpage content. With a multi-tenant system,data for multiple tenants may be stored in the same physical databaseobject, however, tenant data typically is arranged so that data of onetenant is kept logically separate from that of other tenants so that onetenant does not have access to another tenant's data, unless such datais expressly shared. In certain embodiments, system 516 implementsapplications other than, or in addition to, a CRM application. Forexample, system 516 may provide tenant access to multiple hosted(standard and custom) applications, including a CRM application. User(or third party developer) applications, which may or may not includeCRM, may be supported by the application platform 518, which managescreation, storage of the applications into one or more database objectsand executing of the applications in a virtual machine in the processspace of the system 516.

One arrangement for elements of system 516 is shown in FIG. 6, includinga network interface 520, application platform 518, tenant data storage522 for tenant data 523, system data storage 524 for system dataaccessible to system 516 and possibly multiple tenants, program code 526for implementing various functions of system 516, and a process space528 for executing MTS system processes and tenant-specific processes,such as running applications as part of an application hosting service.Additional processes that may execute on system 516 include databaseindexing processes.

Several elements in the system shown in FIG. 5 include conventional,well-known elements that are explained only briefly here. For example,each user system 512 could include a desktop personal computer,workstation, laptop, PDA, cell phone, or any wireless access protocol(WAP) enabled device or any other computing device capable ofinterfacing directly or indirectly to the Internet or other networkconnection. User system 512 typically runs an HTTP client, e.g., abrowsing program, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser,Netscape's Navigator browser, Opera's browser, or a WAP-enabled browserin the case of a cell phone, PDA or other wireless device, or the like,allowing a user (e.g. subscriber of the multi-tenant database system) ofuser system 512 to access, process and view information, pages andapplications available to it from system 516 over network 514. Each usersystem 512 also typically includes one or more user interface devices,such as a keyboard, a mouse, trackball, touch pad, touch screen, pen orthe like, for interacting with a graphical user interface (GUI) providedby the browser on a display (e.g. a monitor screen, LCD display, etc.)in conjunction with pages, forms, applications and other informationprovided by system 516 or other systems or servers. For example, theuser interface device can be used to access data and applications hostedby system 516, and to perform searches on stored data, and otherwiseallow a user to interact with various GUI pages that may be presented toa user. As discussed above, embodiments are suitable for use with theInternet, which refers to a specific global internetwork of networks.However, it should be understood that other networks can be used insteadof the Internet, such as an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a non-TCP/IP based network, any LAN or WAN or the like.

According to one embodiment, each user system 512 and all of itscomponents are operator configurable using applications, such as abrowser, including computer code run using a central processing unitsuch as an Intel Pentium® processor or the like. Similarly, system 516(and additional instances of an MTS, where more than one is present) andall of their components might be operator configurable usingapplication(s) including computer code to run using a central processingunit such as processor system 517 of FIG. 5, which may include an IntelPentium® processor or the like, and/or multiple processor units. Acomputer program product embodiment includes a machine-readable storagemedium (media) having instructions stored thereon/in which can be usedto program a computer to perform any of the processes of the embodimentsdescribed herein. Computer code for operating and configuring system 516to intercommunicate and to process webpages, applications and other dataand media content as described herein are preferably downloaded andstored on a hard disk, but the entire program code, or portions thereof,may also be stored in any other volatile or non-volatile memory mediumor device as is well known, such as a ROM or RAM, or provided on anymedia capable of storing program code, such as any type of rotatingmedia including floppy disks, optical discs, digital versatile disk(DVD), compact disk (CD), microdrive, and magneto-optical disks, andmagnetic or optical cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs),or any type of media or device suitable for storing instructions and/ordata. Additionally, the entire program code, or portions thereof, may betransmitted and downloaded from a software source over a transmissionmedium, e.g., over the Internet, or from another server, as is wellknown, or transmitted over any other conventional network connection asis well known (e.g. extranet, VPN, LAN, etc.) using any communicationmedium and protocols (e.g. TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, Ethernet, etc.) as arewell known. It will also be appreciated that computer code forimplementing embodiments of the present invention can be implemented inany programming language that can be executed on a client system and/orserver or server system such as, for example, C, C++, HTML, any othermarkup language, Java™, JavaScript, ActiveX, any other scriptinglanguage, such as VBScript, and many other programming languages as arewell known may be used, (Java™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems,Inc.).

According to one embodiment, each system 516 is configured to providewebpages, forms, applications, data and media content to user (client)systems 512 to support the access by user systems 512 as tenants ofsystem 516. As such, system 516 provides security mechanisms to keepeach tenant's data separate unless the data is shared. If more than oneMTS is used, they may be located in close proximity to one another (e.g.in a server farm located in a single building or campus), or they may bedistributed at locations remote from one another (e.g. one or moreservers located in city A and one or more servers located in city B). Asused herein, each MTS could include one or more logically and/orphysically connected servers distributed locally or across one or moregeographic locations. Additionally, the term “server” is meant toinclude a computer system, including processing hardware and processspace(s), and an associated storage system and database application(e.g. OODBMS or RDBMS) as is well known in the art. It should also beunderstood that “server system” and “server” are often usedinterchangeably herein. Similarly, the database object described hereincan be implemented as single databases, a distributed database, acollection of distributed databases, a database with redundant online oroffline backups or other redundancies, etc., and might include adistributed database or storage network and associated processingintelligence.

FIG. 6 also illustrates environment 510. However, in FIG. 6 elements ofsystem 516 and various interconnections in an embodiment are furtherillustrated. FIG. 6 shows that user system 512 may include processorsystem 512A, memory system 512B, input system 512C, and output system512D. FIG. 6 shows network 514 and system 516. FIG. 6 also shows thatsystem 516 may include tenant data storage 522, tenant data 523, systemdata storage 524, system data 525, User Interface (UI) 630, ApplicationProgram Interface (API) 632, PL/SOQL 634, save routines 636, applicationsetup mechanism 638, applications servers 600 ₁-600 _(N), system processspace 602, tenant process spaces 604, tenant management process space610, tenant storage area 612, user storage 614, and application metadata616. In other embodiments, environment 510 may not have the sameelements as those listed above and/or may have other elements insteadof, or in addition to, those listed above.

User system 512, network 514, system 516, tenant data storage 522, andsystem data storage 524 were discussed above in FIG. 5. Regarding usersystem 512, processor system 512A may be any combination of one or moreprocessors. Memory system 512B may be any combination of one or morememory devices, short term, and/or long term memory. Input system 512Cmay be any combination of input devices, such as one or more keyboards,mice, trackball's, scanners, cameras, and/or interfaces to networks.Output system 512D may be any combination of output devices, such as oneor more monitors, printers, and/or interfaces to networks. As shown byFIG. 6, system 516 may include a network interface 520 (of FIG. 5)implemented as a set of HTTP application servers 600, an applicationplatform 518, tenant data storage 522, and system data storage 524. Alsoshown is system process space 602, including individual tenant processspaces 604 and a tenant management process space 610. Each applicationserver 600 may be configured to tenant data storage 522 and the tenantdata 523 therein, and system data storage 524 and the system data 525therein to serve requests of user systems 512. The tenant data 523 mightbe divided into individual tenant storage areas 612, which can be eithera physical arrangement and/or a logical arrangement of data. Within eachtenant storage area 612, user storage 614 and application metadata 616might be similarly allocated for each user. For example, a copy of auser's most recently used (MRU) items might be stored to user storage614. Similarly, a copy of MRU items for an entire organization that is atenant might be stored to tenant storage area 612. A UI 630 provides auser interface and an API 632 provides an application programmerinterface to system 516 resident processes to users and/or developers atuser systems 512. The tenant data and the system data may be stored invarious databases, such as one or more Oracle™ databases.

Application platform 518 includes an application setup mechanism 638that supports application developers' creation and management ofapplications, which may be saved as metadata into tenant data storage522 by save routines 636 for execution by subscribers as one or moretenant process spaces 604 managed by tenant management process 610 forexample. Invocations to such applications may be coded using PL/SOQL 634that provides a programming language style interface extension to API632. A detailed description of some PL/SOQL language embodiments isdiscussed in commonly owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application60/828,192 entitled, “PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE METHOD AND SYSTEM FOREXTENDING APIS TO EXECUTE IN CONJUNCTION WITH DATABASE APIS,” by CraigWeissman, filed Oct. 4, 2006, which is incorporated in its entiretyherein for all purposes. Invocations to applications may be detected byone or more system processes, which manage retrieving applicationmetadata 616 for the subscriber making the invocation and executing themetadata as an application in a virtual machine.

Each application server 600 may be communicably coupled to databasesystems, e.g., having access to system data 525 and tenant data 523, viaa different network connection. For example, one application server 600₁ might be coupled via the network 514 (e.g., the Internet), anotherapplication server 600 _(N-1) might be coupled via a direct networklink, and another application server 600 _(N) might be coupled by yet adifferent network connection. Transfer Control Protocol and InternetProtocol (TCP/IP) are typical protocols for communicating betweenapplication servers 600 and the database system. However, it will beapparent to one skilled in the art that other transport protocols may beused to optimize the system depending on the network interconnect used.

In certain embodiments, each application server 600 is configured tohandle requests for any user associated with any organization that is atenant. Because it is desirable to be able to add and remove applicationservers from the server pool at any time for any reason, there ispreferably no server affinity for a user and/or organization to aspecific application server 600. In one embodiment, therefore, aninterface system implementing a load balancing function (e.g., an F5Big-IP load balancer) is communicably coupled between the applicationservers 600 and the user systems 512 to distribute requests to theapplication servers 600. In one embodiment, the load balancer uses aleast connections algorithm to route user requests to the applicationservers 600. Other examples of load balancing algorithms, such as roundrobin and observed response time, also can be used. For example, incertain embodiments, three consecutive requests from the same user couldhit three different application servers 600, and three requests fromdifferent users could hit the same application server 600. In thismanner, system 516 is multi-tenant, wherein system 516 handles storageof, and access to, different objects, data and applications acrossdisparate users and organizations.

As an example of storage, one tenant might be a company that employs asales force where each salesperson uses system 516 to manage their salesprocess. Thus, a user might maintain contact data, leads data, customerfollow-up data, performance data, goals and progress data, etc., allapplicable to that user's personal sales process (e.g., in tenant datastorage 522). In an example of a MTS arrangement, since all of the dataand the applications to access, view, modify, report, transmit,calculate, etc., can be maintained and accessed by a user system havingnothing more than network access, the user can manage his or her salesefforts and cycles from any of many different user systems. For example,if a salesperson is visiting a customer and the customer has Internetaccess in their lobby, the salesperson can obtain critical updates as tothat customer while waiting for the customer to arrive in the lobby.

While each user's data might be separate from other users' dataregardless of the employers of each user, some data might beorganization-wide data shared or accessible by a plurality of users orall of the users for a given organization that is a tenant. Thus, theremight be some data structures managed by system 516 that are allocatedat the tenant level while other data structures might be managed at theuser level. Because an MTS might support multiple tenants includingpossible competitors, the MTS should have security protocols that keepdata, applications, and application use separate. Also, because manytenants may opt for access to an MTS rather than maintain their ownsystem, redundancy, up-time, and backup are additional functions thatmay be implemented in the MTS. In addition to user-specific data andtenant-specific data, system 516 might also maintain system level datausable by multiple tenants or other data. Such system level data mightinclude industry reports, news, postings, and the like that are sharableamong tenants.

In certain embodiments, user systems 512 (which may be client systems)communicate with application servers 600 to request and updatesystem-level and tenant-level data from system 516 that may requiresending one or more queries to tenant data storage 522 and/or systemdata storage 524. System 516 (e.g., an application server 600 in system516) automatically generates one or more SQL statements (e.g., one ormore SQL queries) that are designed to access the desired information.System data storage 524 may generate query plans to access the requesteddata from the database.

Each database can generally be viewed as a collection of objects, suchas a set of logical tables, containing data fitted into predefinedcategories. A “table” is one representation of a data object, and may beused herein to simplify the conceptual description of objects and customobjects according to the present invention. It should be understood that“table” and “object” may be used interchangeably herein. Each tablegenerally contains one or more data categories logically arranged ascolumns or fields in a viewable schema. Each row or record of a tablecontains an instance of data for each category defined by the fields.For example, a CRM database may include a table that describes acustomer with fields for basic contact information such as name,address, phone number, fax number, etc. Another table might describe apurchase order, including fields for information such as customer,product, sale price, date, etc. In some multi-tenant database systems,standard entity tables might be provided for use by all tenants. For CRMdatabase applications, such standard entities might include tables forAccount, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity data, each containingpre-defined fields. It should be understood that the word “entity” mayalso be used interchangeably herein with “object” and “table”.

In some multi-tenant database systems, tenants may be allowed to createand store custom objects, or they may be allowed to customize standardentities or objects, for example by creating custom fields for standardobjects, including custom index fields. U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/817,161, filed Apr. 2, 2004, entitled “CUSTOM ENTITIES AND FIELDS INA MULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM,” which is hereby incorporated herein byreference, teaches systems and methods for creating custom objects aswell as customizing standard objects in a multi-tenant database system.In certain embodiments, for example, all custom entity data rows arestored in a single multi-tenant physical table, which may containmultiple logical tables per organization. It is transparent to customersthat their multiple “tables” are in fact stored in one large table orthat their data may be stored in the same table as the data of othercustomers.

It should be noted that any of the different embodiments describedherein may or may not be equipped with any one or more of the featuresset forth in one or more of the following published applications:US2003/0233404, titled “OFFLINE SIMULATION OF ONLINE SESSION BETWEENCLIENT AND SERVER,” filed Nov. 4, 2002; US2004/0210909, titled “JAVAOBJECT CACHE SERVER FOR DATABASES,” filed Apr. 17, 2003, now issued U.S.Pat. No. 7,209,929; US2005/0065925, titled “QUERY OPTIMIZATION IN AMULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM,” filed Sep. 23, 2003; US2005/0223022,titled “CUSTOM ENTITIES AND FIELDS IN A MULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM,”filed Apr. 2, 2004; US2005/0283478, titled “SOAP-BASED WEB SERVICES IN AMULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM,” filed Jun. 16, 2004; US2006/0206834,titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPLEMENTING MULTI-APPLICATION TABS ANDTAB SETS,” filed Mar. 8, 2005; US2008/0010243, titled “METHOD AND SYSTEMFOR PUSHING DATA TO A PLURALITY OF DEVICES IN AN ON-DEMAND SERVICEENVIRONMENT,” filed Jun. 1, 2007; and/or US 2009/0037828 titled “SYSTEM,METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR EDITING AN ON-DEMAND DATABASESERVICE GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE,” filed Jul. 17, 2008, which are eachincorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms ofthe specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention isnot limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it isintended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements aswould be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope ofthe appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so asto encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system for delivering content of aplurality of subscribers to non-subscribers as a service, the systemincluding: a database organized to receive, store and provide data onbehalf of one or more subscribers using shared common resources; and asystem server communicatively coupled with the database and operable toperform actions comprising: receiving, by the system server, informationfrom one of the subscribers, the information indicating web contentstored on a content server and security settings for controlling accessto the web content, wherein the security settings include at least onerule indicating portions of the web content that are allowed to bepublicly accessed by non-subscribers of the service; receiving, by thesystem server from the subscriber, a definition of a universal resourcelocator (URL) to be used for accessing the web content and a request toregister the URL in association with the web content; responsive to thereceiving of the definition and the request from the subscriber,registering, through the database, by the system server, the URL inassociation with the web content; after registering the URL inassociation with the web content, receiving, by the system server, arequest from one of the non-subscribers for at least some of the webcontent, the request including the URL; extracting, by the systemserver, the URL from the request; identifying, by the system server, theweb content being requested utilizing the URL from the request;identifying, by the system server, the security settings for the webcontent identified; determining, by the system server, one or moreportions of the web content that the security settings allow to bepublicly provided to the non-subscriber; providing, by the systemserver, the portions of the web content to the non-subscriber inresponse to determining, based on the security settings, which portionsof the web content are allowed to be publicly provided to thenon-subscriber; and preventing, by the system server, remaining portionsof the web content that are not indicated by the security settings asallowed to be publicly accessed by non-subscribers of the service frombeing provided to the non-subscriber.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinthe system server is further operable to perform: storing web content onthe content server.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the system furtherincludes one or more cache servers; and wherein the system server isfurther operable to perform: controlling serving of web content fromcache of the one or more cache servers.
 4. The system of claim 3,further including: determining whether the web content is stored in thecache of the one or more cache servers; and when the web content isdetermined to be stored in the cache, providing the web content to anon-subscriber from the cache.
 5. The system of claim 4, furtherincluding: forwarding the request to a content server mapped to arequested domain name associated with a requested URL of the requestwhen the web content is determined not to be stored in the cache of theof the one or more cache servers.
 6. The system of claim 3, furtherincluding: applying limits to a quantity of data provided responsive toa request based upon the subscriber.
 7. The system of claim 6, furtherincluding: allowing the limits to be automatically increased by thesubscriber.
 8. The system of claim 6, further including: excluding webcontent that is provided from the cache of the one or more cache serversin determining whether the limits have been met.
 9. The system of claim1, further including: determining whether requested web content has notbeen received from a subscriber and when the web content to be publiclyprovided has not been received from a subscriber, waiting for such webcontent to be received from the subscriber.
 10. A method for deliveringcontent of a plurality of subscribers to non-subscribers as a service,the method including: receiving information from one of the subscribers,the information indicating web content stored on a content server andsecurity settings for controlling access to the web content, wherein thesecurity settings include at least one rule indicating portions of theweb content that are allowed to be publicly accessed by non-subscribersof the service; receiving, from the subscriber, a definition of auniversal resource locator (URL) to be used for accessing the webcontent and a request to register the URL in association with the webcontent; responsive to the receiving of the definition and the requestfrom the subscriber, registering, through a database organized toreceive, store and provide data on behalf of one or more subscribersusing shared common resources, the URL in association with the webcontent; after registering the URL in association with the web content,receiving, a request from a non-subscriber for at least some of the webcontent, the request including the URL; extracting the URL from therequest; identifying the web content being requested utilizing theextracted URL; identifying the security settings for the web contentidentified; determining one or more portions of the web content that thesecurity settings allow to be publicly provided to the non-subscriber;providing the portions of the web content to the non-subscriber inresponse to determining, based on the security settings, which portionsof the web content are allowed to be publicly provided to thenon-subscriber; and preventing remaining portions of the web contentthat are not indicated by the security settings as allowed to bepublicly accessed by non-subscribers of the service from being providedto the non-subscriber.
 11. The method of claim 10, further including:storing web content on the content server.
 12. The method of claim 10,further including: controlling serving of web content from one or morecache servers.
 13. The method of claim 12, further including:determining whether the web content is stored in a cache of the one ormore cache servers; and when the web content is determined to be storedin the cache, providing the web content to a non-subscriber from thecache.
 14. The method of claim 13, further including: forwarding therequest to a content server mapped to a requested domain name associatedwith a requested URL of the request when the web content is determinednot to be stored in the cache of the of the one or more cache servers.15. The method of claim 13, further including: applying limits to aquantity of data provided responsive to a request based upon thesubscriber.
 16. The method of claim 15, further including: allowing thelimits to be automatically increased by the subscriber.
 17. The methodof claim 15, further including: excluding web content that is providedfrom the cache of the one or more cache servers in the determiningwhether the limits have been met.
 18. The method of claim 10, furtherincluding: determining whether requested web content has not beenreceived from a subscriber and when the web content to be publiclyprovided has not been received from a subscriber, waiting for such webcontent to be received from the subscriber.
 19. A non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium impressed with computer programinstructions, which instructions, when executed on a processor,implement the method of claim
 10. 20. A server, comprising: a processor;and a non-transitory machine-readable medium storing one or moresequences of instructions, which instructions when executed by theprocessor, cause the processor to carry out actions including: receivinginformation from one of a plurality of subscribers, the informationindicating web content stored on a content server and security settingsfor controlling access to the web content, wherein the security settingsinclude at least one rule indicating portions of the web content thatare allowed to be publicly accessed by non-subscribers; receiving, fromthe subscriber, a definition of a universal resource locator (URL) to beused for accessing the web content and a request to register the URL inassociation with the web content; responsive to the receiving of thedefinition and the request from the subscriber, registering, through adatabase organized to receive, store and provide data on behalf of oneor more subscribers using shared common resources, the URL inassociation with the web content; after registering the URL inassociation with the web content, receiving, a request from anon-subscriber for at least some of the web content, the requestincluding the URL; extracting the URL from the request; identifying theweb content being requested utilizing the extracted URL; identifying thesecurity settings for the web content identified; determining one ormore portions of the web content that the security settings allow to bepublicly provided to the non-subscriber; providing the portions of theweb content to the non-subscriber in response to determining, based onthe security settings, which portions of the web content are allowed tobe publicly provided to the non-subscriber; and preventing remainingportions of the web content that are not indicated by the securitysettings as allowed to be publicly accessed by non-subscribers frombeing provided to the non-subscriber.